A Glimpse of
Something Exciting
Women should initiate sex more often. It’s
not always the man who’s gagging for it,
It’s true that being assertive about asking for what
we want can be tough for some of us but here are about
a million different situations that might inspire us
To throw a man on the bed and demand he fucks you
We don’t always need a scented candle burning and a deep
talk about our feelings to get us in the mood.
Sometimes we just need to be cheered up after
watching a documentary on climate change.
Or maybe we’re avoiding doing a formidable pile of laundry.
Maybe we were weirdly turned on by an offhanded sexual
comment made by a guy we weren’t even attracted to 5 minutes ago.
Don’t be anxious. Get over the fear of rejection.
Men have to face it all the time.
Show some initiative. Chase the penis you want.
Hookup Life
Tongue in Cheek
A ritualistic sexual phenomenon is becoming increasingly prominent on college campuses. Commonly known as “the hookup,” this ambiguous colloquialism is typically used to describe any sexual encounter.
Hookups are highly gendered. Many influential variables were inherently masculine and validating of a gender hierarchy. In 88 percent of the sample population, male participants experienced more pleasure than their female partners.
There are five phases to the hookup.
1. The Approach is the initial male-female interaction. In 94 percent of cases, this occurs after 11:07 p.m. This phase varies depending on participants’ relation to one another.
2. The Pursuit, initiated by males 84 percent of the time, indicates an approaching hookup. Alcohol and/or drugs are involved in 94 percent of cases. Drug use was higher at Alpha Theta Eta Pi Manor Compound than other locations.
3. The Proposition, initiated by males 84 percent of the time, is a hookup proposal. We found that 92 percent of the time, the proposition is thinly veiled as another activity requiring relocation. Phrases may include:
§ “It’s getting late.”
§ “Wanna watch a movie?”
§ “Let’s drop by my room so I can lend you my LSAT prep book before I forget.”
Regarding a fuck buddy/friend with benefits, this is likely the first phase of the hookup and usually occurs via text messaging. Texts may include:
§ “You out tonight?”
§ “I wanna (verb) your (noun) tonight.”
§ “Heyyyy”
4. The Hookup refers to the sexual encounter. Influential variables include:
§ Consent:
o Some participants had unorthodox ways of giving consent. These may include: not speaking, a high B.A.C. and phrases such as: “I thought we were just going to watch a movie!”
o Further research is needed to examine these modern interpretations of consent.
§ Contraception:
o Prior to sex, it is common for the male to ask “are you on the pill?”
o This statement signifies an effort to avoid condom usage and implies that both partners lack STIs. It presents evidence as to why the Duke Student Health Center has seen a drastic spike in chlamydia incidence over the past 5 years.
§ Orgasm:
o In 96 percent of cases, hookups ended immediately after the male orgasm.
o 85 percent of females surveyed admitted to faking an orgasm.
o Males achieved orgasm at 10.2 times the rate of their female partners.
5. The Aftermath refers to the time period between two consecutive hookups. If there is only one hookup, and especially if it is unsatisfactory, the aftermath often seems negative and infinite. Influential variables include:
§ The morning after:
o Was it present? Did participants spend the night together?
o If so, did the morning after include a walk of shame or a stride of pride?
o Did participants engage in eye contact, conversation or panic?
§ The 3:00 a.m. getaway:
o This occurs in the absence of a sleepover and is often laborious in nature.
o Obstacles include: whereabouts of clothing, hookup location, fabricating a plausible excuse and B.A.C.
§ Future public encounters, especially those occurring sober and in daylight:
o Do participants acknowledge one another?
o How did participants give consent?
o Was the hookup enjoyable?
The findings include the gendered nature of the hookup and the unusual ways of consenting. These data suggest that alcohol and drug use is the most influential variable in all phases of the hookup.
If we were to repeat the study controlling for alcohol and drug use, we would expect drastically different results. Considering that our sample population was primarily heterosexual, we would also be interested to see how the addition of more homosexual participants influenced our results.